Excavator-bucket cleaner.



E. E.BAGERE. l, 'ExcAvAToR BUCKET CLEANER.'

rAPPLlcMloN' FILED Muna-1,914.

f* rmental Feb. 8,1916." E

1 s sHEETs-SHEET Aa.

. buckets are arranged to travel up and down force the contents therefrom,

UNITED STATES, PATENT oFFicE.

FREDERIC E. BAGER, OF

EXCAVATOR-BUCKET CLEANER.

To all whom it mag/camera: Be it known that I,.FRnDER1c E. BAGER, a

citizen lof the United States of America, and resident. of Winthrop Harbor, Lake Bucket Cleaners, oflwhich the following is a specification.

'My invention relates to excavators. of that kind Ain which a series of excavating in the trench or ditch. Y

It relates more particularly to excavators ofV this kind in which' the said buckets are o'pen at front and rear, whereby each bucket receives the load at the mouth thereof, while traveling at the bottom of the ditch or trench, and then discharges the load while turning upside down at a point above.

"My invention relates more especially, moreover, to excavators of this particular character in which a cleaner is disposed in position to pass whereby each bucket ispeffectively cleaned 'while turning upside down to discharge its load.

- The object of my -invention is to provide a novel construction and arrangement whereby the lspring held rod or endwise reciprocating member for yieldingly' holding the cleaner in- 4position lis relieved of side thrust, and is subject only to endwise thrust,

4whereby .friction is reduced between the said 'rod and thexbearing in which it is mounted to reciprocate.

It is also an object to provide certain details and combinations tending to increase the general eiiciency and serviceability of an excavator bucket 'cleaner mechanism of this particular character. n To the foregoing and other useful ends my invention consists in matter hereinafter set forth `andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings z--Figure 1 is a -side elevationof the upper portion of the boom and system of excavating buckets ,of a trenching machine having a `bucket cleaner mechanismembodying the yprinci#l plesof my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the apparatusshown in Fig. 1, on a larger scale, thesection` being taken' approximately on line .2-2 in Fig. 4. Fig. 3

-is' a detail section' on line 3-3 in Figi 2. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the apparatus Specication of Letters Patent.

through the buckets, to`

tially over the shaft B, whereby WINTHROP HARBOR, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T O FREDERICK C.

AUSTIN, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

shown in Fig. 2, certain portions thereof being broken away for convenience of illus- Y Patented Feb. 8, 1916. `Application.l-led. January 16, 1914. 'Serial No. 812,515. I

tration, and looking 'at the saidapparatus in a direction at. right angles tothe angle of inclination thereof. Fig. 5 is a` detail sec tion on line -in Fig. 2. Fig.- ('isvadefg.A

tail sectionon line 6-6 in'Fig.

lAsthus. illustrated, my' Aini'zention com-j-4 prises a beam A having its upper end hung y on a bracket a' suitably-supported on the horizontal and transverse' sprocket shaft B,-

whicl'i ylatter is in turn supported upon the vmachine body C in "any desired manner. lhe'saidv beam is adapted Ato swing on the said shaft, is suitably f ivoted with braces a1, a2, ai anda* to provi e a swinging or tilt# ing digging frame, and is disposed ,in 'position to extend downward and into the trench cut by the machine, slowly forward. For this purpose the said shaft is provided with :i pair of sprocket l-wheels 7), `which are suitably spaced apart,

and which are equipped with sprocket.

chains b1 of any suitable character. These chains, it will be understood, are endless in character, and are supported .by similar sprockets (not shown), mounted at the links of the chains, each bucket being open at front and rear and provided with a curved side or front plate b4, as well as cutters b5 of any suitable character. With this construction, each bucket tilts upside down, as it travels oversaidfsprocket wheels, in the manner shown in Fig. 2, and at this time the bucket is open at its lower side, whereby the load is automatically discharged. This as the said body moves lower end of the beam. The buckets b2 are rigidly secured by bracket plates b to the is all well known construction and will be readily understood.`

The cleaner D is preferably in the form of a plate adapted to scrape the inner surface of each bucket, being disposed substanit forces the load out of each bucket.' The said cleaner is fixed on the upper end of an arm d, which latter is pivoted at d* to the bracket arm a of the beam, vwhereby the said cleaner is supported for movement' about a horizontalaxis extending parallel with` said shaft. The arm apmay be connected with the .beam A in,` any 'suitable manner, and has a bearing for the shaft B as shown. A link d2 has its upper end pivoted. atraitothelowerend of the arm d,

and has its lowerend pivotally connected" vbetween'said rod.Y and arm. The said rod reciprocates endwlseln a bearmg dfsecured l to the'beam, and is subject to the. pull or tension of a compression spring if interposed betw'een'said bearing land the shouhlf der als on the end of said rod. In this way, and by the series of connections thus. provided between the cleaner and said spring, the latter yieldingly holds the former in operative position. In other words, the spring Z7 is compressed to some extent, depending upon the resistance 'offered by the load, as soon Aas a loaded bucketl strikes the cleaner. Also, this arrangement makes it possible for the edge of the cleaner to bear hard against the curved inner surface of the bucket, 'sothat even without a load lin the bucket the spring will be slightly compressed as the curved surface .of the bucket forces the cleaner slightly forward. The cleaner is released at `the rear end of the bucket, and the load is discharged downward and suitably taken care of by other means To revent side thrust on the rod d5, and un ue friction where it `passes through the bearingd, a link d is interposed between 4the pivotal, joint al* and bracket support a, being pivoted to the latter. If desired, there may be two of these links d", disposed at 'opposite sidesof said bracket, thus insuring greater stability and certainty of operation.' The link d", or pair of links, as the ease may be, prevents the 4" link d2 from pullingl sidewise on the rod d?,

holding the latter to practicallyl a `straight endwise. movement. Thus the spring d moves the rod d5 back and fgrth in practically a straight line, causing the latter to resist bypractically a straight pull the -for-A p ward movement of the cleaner whenever the "latter Istrikes -the bucket; AsA stated, this prevents lthe rod from binding in vthe bearing d6, and'fprevents undue wear and friction at this vpoint in the mechanism. As shown, and as indicated more clearly in Fig. 4, the said cleaner and links dczvand d are disposedbetween'the sprc-ket wheels b, and between the sprocket chains b1, the vlatvter being tied together by the bodies of the 1 and 2, turning upside down as they pass` over the sprockets at the upper end of lthe. beam; then the buckets descend on the other A' the rod buckets. y suitable arrangment 'can' be employed for driving the shaft B, as, for example, a4 sprocket chain E supportedbyf' the'sprcket wheel e on the'said shaft.v '-Thef buckets, of course, travel. upward the ,1, di-` -g rection indicated by the arrows in Figs.

tively cleaned at the point of discharge, and the cleaner mechanism vis held firmly and steadily in place, by the link arrangement shown and described, whereby the operation of the 'spring controlled elements is smooth and practically without any binding action, and'without undue wear or friction. This `enables the cleaner to yield readily, each time it encounters a loaded bucket, without having to overcome practically anything more than the tension or resiliency of the spring.

Vhat I claimas my inventionis l. An excavator comprising a traveling bucket, a support, a bucket cleaner pivoted on said support, a` sliding element, a link connecting said element with the cleaner, said link-having one end pivoted on the cleaner and the other endl pivoted on said element, a spring for yieldingly holding said cleaner in t e path of the bucket, applied to said element, and a connection between said element and support, serving to counteract side thrust on said element by said link.

2. An excavatory comprising a traveling bucket, a support, a bucket cleaner pivoted on said support, a'sliding element, a link connecting said element with the cleaner, a spring for yieldingly holding said cleaner in the path of the bucket, applied to said element, and a connection between said element and support, serving to counteract side thrust on said element by said link, said connection having a link pivoted at one end `on said support, and pivotally connected at its other end with said element.

.3. An excavator comprising a traveling bucket, a support, a bucket cleaner pivoted on said support, a sliding element, a link connecting said element with-the cleaner, a

spring for yieldingly holding said cleaner in the path of the bucket, applied to said element, and a connection .betweensaid elementv lnec'ting saidl bucket with a link of each chain.

4. An excavator comprising a traveling bucket,` a pivoted cleaner disposedin position' to -pass .through v'the bucket, a rod mounted toslide endwise, a link connecting l with said cleaner, and. a spring'for yieldingly holding said' cleaner in normal position, applied to said rod..

An excavator comprlsing a traveling bucket,fa pivoted Acleanerk disposed in posi- .;tionjto pass 'througha thebucket, a rod mounted to slide endwise, a link connecting the rod with saidl cleaner,l a spring for lyieldingly holding said cleaner innormal position, appliedto said rod, a support, and a gnk connection between said support and ro -each side of said cleaner, chains on sprocket, means for securing the bucket to 6. An excavator comprising atraveling bucket, a pivoted cleaner disposed in position to pass through mounted to sllde endwise, a link connecting the rod with said cleaner,and a spring -for yieldingly holding' said cleaner in normal position, applied to said rod, a support, and

means for controlling the action ofsaid link and rod, pivoted on saidsupport.v

7. An excavator comprismg a bucket, a pivoted cleaner disposed 1n vposition to pass hroughl the bucket, a rod mounted to slide endwise, a link connecting the rod With said cleaner, and aspringior yieldingly holding'said cleaner in normal position, applied to said rod, :a sprocket a .sai

said chains, and. meansl for controllingthe the bucket, aA rodv traveling.

action Aof sai-d rod andv link, disposed between said chains.

, 8. An excavator comprlsmg a travelmg bucket, a pivoted cleaner disposed in position to pass through the bucket, a rod mounted to slide endwise, a link connecting the rod with said cleaner, and a spring for yieldingly holding said cleaner in normal position, ap lied to said rod, said cleaner having a p ate Which passesthrough the bucket, and means whereby the bucket 4is turning upside down during the operationv FREDERIC E. BAGER.. 

